The crash site of Iranian President Raisi's helicopter was discovered by Iranian drones, the general staff of the Iranian Armed Forces said. 

"Despite Turkey sending a drone equipped with night vision and thermal cameras, the drone failed to accurately locate the crash site due to its lack of detection equipment and control points below the cloud," the general staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced in a statement Wednesday.

The statement added that following the crash of the helicopter transporting the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the accompanying officials, and due to the complex mountainous terrain of the region and the difficult weather conditions, Iran called in the advanced Iranian drone equipped with the SAR radar.

However, the statement said that, as the drone was on a mission in the northern Indian Ocean far from the scene of the accident and due to the geographical distance, the ground rescue forces started the search for the President's helicopter. 

The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces also said that as several "friendly countries" expressed their readiness to help, Iran chose Turkey to aid in the rescue mission due to its proximity to the accident site in the northwest of the country.

In the early hours of dawn on May 20, the crash site was found by the Iranian ground rescue forces and by drones recalled from the Indian Ocean, the statement said. 

Farewell 

The Iranian capital, Tehran, bid farewell earlier today to the late Iranian President Sayyed Ebrahim Raisi, his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and their companions, in attendance of officials and crowds of Iranian people who headed en masse to the capital to take part in the funeral services.

As part of the funeral ceremony, the leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic Sayyed Ali Khamenei led the prayers over the bodies at the University of Tehran.

Among the officials who took part in the funeral services in Tehran were the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, and the Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah Sheikh Naim Qassem. The burial ceremony will also take place in the presence of high-level foreign delegations in Tehran, at 4:00 pm.

Read more: Tehran bid farewell to Raisi, companions; Sayyed Khamenei led prayer

President Ebrahim Raisi, Amir-Abdollahian, officials pronounced dead

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and accompanying officials have passed away in the tragic helicopter crash in Iran's East Azerbaijan Province, according to an official statement by Iranian state media on May 20.

After locating the helicopter carrying the Iranian President and accompanying officials on May 20 morning, Iran's Red Crescent Society (IRCS) issued a preliminary statement noting that there was "no sign of life" found near the wreckage locations.

This announcement came over 16 hours after the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps reported they had lost contact with the helicopter carrying the officials. Since then, at least 73 rapid response and rescue teams from the provinces of East Azarbaijan, Tehran, Alborz, Ardabil, Zanjan, and West Azarbaijan were involved in the search and rescue operations led by the Iranian RCS.

Additionally, countries such as Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Russia participated in the search and rescue efforts in the province.